How Often Do Breast Tissue Expanders Fail Due to Manufacturer's Error?

Tissue expanders have a failure rate from manufacturing but it is quite low. More commonly, the expanders are inadvertently damaged during placement or during expansions. Using an inert dye such as Methylene blue inside the expander allows for identification of leaks created during surgery or in the early postoperative period via blue dye in the drain outputs. Having 5 holes in a single expander sounds less of a manufacturing problem and more like punctures from a needle. If a device is suspected of malfunction, it is protocol to return it to the manufacturer for integrity checks. To answer your question, it is not something that you are doing "wrong" and there is not much you can do to prevent it.

The expanders perform well.Sometimes the expander can shift in the pocket and it is difficult to locate the expansion port even with the magnet.I recently had to replace one that I had punctured because the expander flipped over on itself and once there are holes you have to replace it so it  is not a manufacturing defect.